We are coming to the end of the strangest, most unconventional year of movie viewing that we have ever lived through. With Covid-19 causing all kinds of trouble, something like going to the movie theater seemed pretty insignificant. Yet, it changed the lives of many hard working people.
The way we view our movies may be changed now forever. I do not know if the old ways of going to the movies will ever return, but, no matter what, there will be movies that are stinkers.
Now, I will once again stress that this is my personal list and should not be taken as an insult to any of the people out there who may think of one of these movies as their all-time favorite. Movies are subjective and this is the rule we go by here at EYG. You have every right to disagree with my assessment.
I do not mean to insult any of the creative folks involved in these projects. I can still respect what you do even if the final product does not reach me as a viewer.
Finally, I need to state that the star ratings that I give to the movies are simply a guide to help organize these films. I do not strictly follow a score. Just because something received a 1.5 does not necessarily mean it will be lower on the list than one that received a 1.3. An opinion on films is constantly changing. If I redid this list in a year, it might be totally different.
With the clarifications finished, here is the Top 30 Worst films of 2020.
#30. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. In a normal year, this would not have made the list, but with the lower number of films, the Will Farrell musical gets added.
#29. Come Play. A real truth of how creatures from a nearby dimension can use cell phones to sneak into our dimension. Always knew those electronic devices were dangerous.
#28. Babysitter: Killer Queen. Total schlock and a waste of a sequel of a Netflix film that I actually liked.
#27. The F**k-It List. This is where this movie actually belongs.
#26. The Craft: Legacy. Another sequel that should have stayed hidden.
#25. Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City. A waste of time from Netflix. Boring and repetitive.
#24. Black Beauty. As soon as I heard the horse with the voice over, I knew this one was not going to jump the hurdle.
#23. Spenser Confidential. I did not realize until well into the film that this was a reboot/remake of the TV show Spenser for Hire. It made me miss that show, and I was never a big fan of it in the first place.
#22. Roald Dahl’s The Witches. Some of the worst CGI of the year with these kids turned into talking mice plot and cartoon-like ideas. Roald Dahl deserved better.
#21. Christmas Chronicle 2. Seeing a trend, this was another sequel that just flopped in comparison to a really decent original. Even Santa Kurt Russell could not save this.
#20. The Rhythm Section. Blake Lively is out for revenge. Turning to the CIA may not have been the best choice.
#19. The Rental. This one has 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. This was just too stupid for me with couples doing stupid things.
#18. The Last Thing He Wanted. A unremarkable, hard to remember Netflix film with Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck and Willem Dafoe. This had no right to be as bad as it was.
#17. Hillbilly Elegy. Ron Howard’s Oscar bait film has great actors in horrible wigs and a terrible story. Sorry I watched this. It is Krista’s fault.
#16. Bloodshot. Vin Diesel in a comic book adaptation. He had to say more than “I am Groot” in this one.
#15. Underwater. Sci-fi story underwater with Kristin Stewart. She has been doing better work lately. This one reverts back to the old days.
#14. Gretel & Hansel. A retelling of the Hansel & Gretel tale with the witch and the oven. Ugh.
#13. Brahms: The Boy II. Yet another needless sequel. This is worse yet because it took the decent bits about the original and screwed it all up.
#12. Nocturne. One of the Halloween films dropped on Amazon Prime. Not the worst of them… pretty close though.
#11. Into the Dark: Delivered. Pregnant woman chained to the wall. Sounds fun.
#10. The Night Clerk. Poor Tye Sheridan. Kind of a crime drama. More insulting than anything else.
#9. The Lie. Remember how I mentioned that Nocturne wasn’t the worst of the Amazon Prime Halloween films. I now present to you The Lie.
#8. Dolittle. How many more times can I reference the dragon’s anus? This is the last, I promise.
#7. Fantasy Island. There was all kinds of potential to make this into a great horror movie. Unfortunately, we get this.
#6. Shark Season. This year’s shark attack movie. What could go wrong?
#5. The Grudge. The first film of the year for me. Only four others were worse. This is a metaphor for the year 2020.
#4. Last Days of American Crime. 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. There is a silly, futuristic heist.
#3. Coffee & Kareem. Mean-spirited. Unfunny. In a good year for Netflix, this is a black eye.
#2. Artemis Fowl. I had hoped this adaptation of a YA book would be a great start to a new franchise of fun, fantasy storytelling. Oops. At least I could watch it on Disney + and not have to go to the theater.
#1. The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. Easily the worst movie of the year. Makes Artemis Fowl look like Avengers Endgame. Not only the worst of the year, this goes into the list of worst of all time. My personal list includes Movie 43, Batman & Robin, Holmes and Watson. This is not even the kind of film like The Room or Birdemic that you know is terrible and you can laugh about later (so bad it’s good). Movie critic Chris Stuckmann had done a video early in the year warning people to not watch this movie. I heard that and thought that I wanted to see exactly what he was talking about. I was wrong. That was a bad choice. I should have listened to Chris.
I had some time tonight and found this on Starz. It had been awhile since I had seen Big Hero 6 so I put it on as I was working on the last list.
What a great film this is.
Hiro (Ryan Potter) and Baymax (Scott Adsit) have one of the best relationships you could ever see in a movie. The connection between them so sweet. Baymax unwaveringly caring for Hiro after the death of his brother is as wonderful as you can get. Baymax helps Hiro work through his anger and leads him past the grief.
And he does it in a movie that is laugh out loud funny.
I remember guessing the identity of the villain when I first saw the film back in theaters, but that does not prevent my love for Big Hero 6. In fact, the look of the villain was just one more aspect of how this remarkably cool animated movie was.
Disney Studios took a little known Marvel property and adapted it into an Oscar-winning animated movie that is for all the family. Plus, there was a fantastic yet unexpected Stan Lee cameo at the post credit scene.
To be fair, the film does very little to develop any other of the characters besides Hiro, Baymax and (somewhat) Fred (T.J. Miller). The rest of Big Hero 6 are regulated to the back burner and team member status. I think that was okay as the story was really the story of Hiro and Baymax more than it was the superhero team Big Hero 6. There is only so much time available to the movie and they used it wisely to cover Hiro and Baymax. I know there is an animated series of Big Hero 6, so I would assume that the others would get their background there.
Baymax was one of the most original and creative characters to make the big screen. His dedication to Hiro as his personal healthcare companion is inspiring and you can’t help but love the huggable robot. His character design is amazing, presenting him as what looks like a big pillow. Baymax endures himself to the audience almost immediately and his using tape to plug holes or seeming like he is drunk when his battery is low just makes us love him more.
Big Hero 6 is absolutely filled with that Disney magic. It is wonderful.
As I was working on the final tabulations of the Top 30 Best and Worst Lists for 2020, I came up with a different idea. On that was perfect for the year of movies from 2020. I decided to rank the movies this year that I actually went and saw in the theater from best to worst.
Rules were simple and the same as my normal top 30 list. This is a list of movies I saw in the theater, not on streaming. This is a list of movies that I saw that were released in 2020. That means that, although I saw 1917 and Just Mercy in the theater in 2020, they were 2019 movies and so did not qualify for this list.
Intriguingly enough, there are several of these films that will be found on both of the Best and Worst Lists (twelve actually), but there are a bunch that would not have made either list. Now, they are here.
It turns out that I have seen 24 movies in the theater this year. Here they are, from worst to best.
#24. The Grudge. The first movie I saw in 2020 and it was one of the worst.
#23. Fantasy Island. I had some hopes for this one. They were just a fantasy.
#22. Dolittle. Robert Downey Jr. trying to find a franchise besides Iron Man. He did not fnd one in the dragon’s anus.
#21. Brahms: The Boy II. No reason for this sequel. Especially one that ruins the passable original.
#20. Gretel & Hansel. I honestly do not remember much about this one. It has a witch.
#19. Underwater. Kristin Stewart in a science fiction monster story underwater.
#18. The Rhythm Section. Blake Lively and a ridiculous revenge plot.
#17. The Turning. I actually did not hate the first part of this film but the ending ruined any good will I had.
#16. The Call of the Wild. Harrison Ford and the CGI dog.
#15. Downhill. A reboot of a Swedish film. A skiing movie with Will Farrell and Julia Louis- Dreyfus.
#14. Tenet. Not really sure what was happening here. Still disappointed though.
#13. The Gentlemen. A British action comedy from Guy Ritchie. Parts of this one were decent while other parts needed work.
#12. Let Him Go. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are out to get their grandchild back from a crazy Texas family.
#11. The Hunt. The last film I saw in the theaters before the pandemic. It was controversial. And Betty Gilpin was great.
#10. The Way Back. Ben Affleck is a basketball coach with a substance abuse problem. Isn’t that all of them? Affleck does a great job in the role.
#9. Words on Bathroom Walls. A look at the problems of mental illness and the development of the high school teenager.
#8. Bad Boys for Life. I did not like the first two at all. Then, Bad Boys for Life came along and was really great. Who knew?
#7. Sonic the Hedgehog. A really fun ride with Jim Carrey returning to his roots of crazed over the top roles. Sonic looked great (eventually) and this became one of the best video game movies around.
#6. The New Mutants. Waited for what seemed forever for this to be released. When it was released, I liked it. It was not universally loved, but that is okay. I thought it was a decent adaptation.
#5. News of the World. This is the most recent (and likely) the last film I saw in theaters in 2020. Tom Hanks was great and Helena Zengel matched him in this Western.
#4. Promising Young Woman. A revenge story unlike many seen before. And an awesome performance from Carey Mulligan.
#3. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Eventually labeled Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Harley Quinn is fantabulous here and the Birds of Prey have a fun adventure against Ewan McGregor (though his villain feels one note) as Black Mask.
#2. Onward. The first Pixar movie of the year. An emotional story with Tom Holland and Chris Pratt providing great voice over work. Fathers and sons worldwide can relate.
#1. The Invisible Man. A great rebooting of a classic Universal monster. This is what the Dark Universe should have been about. Elizabeth Moss gives an epic performance as the protagonist of the film, trying to avoid the Invisible Man. Full of tension and anxiety.
And now… The Liz Award, in honor of Elizabeth Taylor. Best Actress
The Liz Award
Previous Winners: Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri), Viola Davis (Fences), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Renee Zellweger (Judy)
#12. Diane Lane (Let Him Go).
#11. Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).
#10. Anya Taylor Joy (Emma)
#9. Amy Ryan (Lost Girls)
#8. Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes)
#7. Kathryn Newton (Freaky)
#6. Wunmi Mosaku (His House)
#5. Betty Gilpin (The Hunt)
#4. Sarah Paulson (Run)
#3. Elizabeth Moss (The Invisible Man)
Part of the success of the new version of The Invisible Man was the kick ass performance of Elizabeth Moss in the lead. She had to go through so much to battle her old boyfriend. She was great in one of the best movies we saw in the theater.
#2. Corey Mulligan (Promising Young Women)
Corey Mulligan carries Promising Young Woman with her raw, painful performance as a damaged woman with a desire to make the past pay for the slights against her. She was amazing here.
And the winner….
#1. Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom).
Viola Davis becomes the first actress to win The Liz Award twice, previously taking the award for Fences, another play-like film. Her transformative performance as Ma Rainey is shocking. I had to double look to make sure that this was actually Viola. Her work in this is so amazing that she is able to be as memorable in this role in a movie where Chadwick Boseman gives his final performance. She is unbelievable in the Netflix film.
Best Actor of the year receives The Strangelove, in honor of EYG Hall of Famer Peter Sellers and his remarkable turn as three distinct characters in Dr. Strangelove.
The Strangelove (Best Actor in Movie)
Previous Winners: James McAvoy (Split), Denzel Washington (Fences), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)
Top 12 actors of 2020 are….
#12. The Bad Boys [Will Smith & Martin Lawrence] (Bad Boys for Life)
#11. Charlie Plummer (Words on Bathroom Walls)
#10. Ben Affleck (The Way Back)
#9. Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton)
#8. Gary Oldman (Mank)
#7. Sope Dirisu (His House)
#6. Paul Bettany (Uncle Frank)
#5. Tom Hanks (News of the World)
#4. Eddie Redmayne (Trial of the Chicago 7)
#3. Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)
Riz Ahmed was tremendous in Sound of Metal with his performance as a rock drummer who is loses his hearing and has to deal with his silence.
#2. Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods)
I thought for sure that Delroy Lindo was winning the Strangelove this year after seeing his transcendent performance in Da 5 Bloods. He was so brilliant.
And the winner….
#1. Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
This was Chadwick Boseman’s final performance and it was so off the charts. Some of the monologues that he delivers in the movie is awe-inspiring. It was difficult to watch knowing how the end result in real life was going to play out. One has to wonder if Chadwick brought the pain from his real life into this fictional character. It is a tear-inducing watch and he is amazing.
Moving along to the Best Supporting Actor for 2020…
Supporting Actor
Previous Winners:Patrick Stewart (Logan), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Edward Norton (Birdman), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame)
Again, we have top 12 for this category.
#12. Chris Pine (Wonder Woman 1984)
#11. Peter Macdissi (Uncle Frank)
#10. Jim Carrey (Sonic the Hedgehog)
#9. Bill Murray (On the Rocks)
#8. David Thewlis (I’m Thinking About Ending Things)
#7. Walter Goggins (Words on Bathroom Walls)
#6. Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
#5. Hugh Laurie (The Personal History of David Copperfield)
#4. Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)
#3. Frank Langella (Trial of the Chicago 7)
Frank Langella provided the great Sorkin film with their racist judge. Some of the things that he does in this movie truly make you hate this guy. His performance is utterly fantastic.
#2. Daveed Diggs (Hamilton)
Daveed Diggs was a huge standout in the play Hamilton, especially as Thomas Jefferson. With the play filmed on Disney +, I got a chance to see this amazing play.
And the winner….
#1. Sasha Baron Cohen (Trial of the Chicago 7)
Sasha Baron Cohen has had a great year and he just knocks this one out of the park. Playing Abby Hoffman, Cohen was one of the standouts in the best cast ensemble of the year.
Beginning the acting awards for the movies, we will still have the issues as mentioned in the director category. There will be a bunch of films that I will not see until 2021 but will be on a bunch of critics final lists. Nothing I can do about that.
Best Supporting Actresses
Previous Winners:Dafne Keene (Logan), Tilda Swinton (Dr. Strange), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Emma Stone (Birdman), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Sally Field (Lincoln), Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit)
I have a list of 12 for the Supporting Actress category.
#12. Alison Brie (Promising Young Woman)
#11. Amada Seyfried (Mank)
#10. Marsha Stephanie Blake (I’m Your Woman)
#9. Allison Janney (Troop Zero)
#8. Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)
#7. Viola Davis (Troop Zero)
#6. Toni Collette (I’m Thinking About Ending Things)
#5. Tilda Swinton (The Personal History of David Copperfield)
#4. Phylicia Rashaad (Black Box)
#3. Helen Zengel (News of the World)
Helen Zengel was so great in this movie. Honestly, had I seen this performance sooner than I did, Helen may have been in serious consideration for the “I See Kid Actors” Award this season. Instead, she is #3 on supporting actresses.
#2. Candice Bergen (Let Them All Talk)
Candice Bergen was far and away my favorite part of this movie. She had great chemistry with Meryl Streep and Dianne West. Plus, her character is one who really has some darkness in her. She was great.
And the winner….
#1. Margo Martindale (Blow the Man Down)
Margo Martindale was a brilliant part of this Amazon Prime film. Her performance made this one truly pop.
So the new Oscar rules have messed up this award. Pushing the Oscars back a couple of months have meant that the films that are usually the Oscar contenders and thus Best Director contenders can be released through February. Well, in February, that is 2021 for me. I won’t be able to see a bunch of them until 2021.
For example, there have been a lot of word of mouth about Chloe Zhao and her film Nomadland. Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari is another one that has not been released in this area yet. Regina King has been getting buzz over One Night in Miami. Still no….
Still, I had plenty of excellent choices from 2020, of movies that I actually saw. Top ten in fact
Previous Winners: A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame)
#10. Pete Docter & Kemp Powers (Soul)
#9. Sofia Coppola (On the Rocks)
#8. Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy (Blow the Man Down)
#7. Remi Weeks (His Home)
#6. David Fincher (Mank)
#5. Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
#4. Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man)
#3. Aaron Sorkin (Trial of the Chicago 7)
#2. George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
and the winner of the All Right, Mr. DeMille, I am Ready for my Close Up Director of the Year is…
#1. Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods)
Spike Lee’s tremendous story of a group of Vietnam vets returning to Vietnam to go after a treasure they had buried is an amazing accomplishment. The performances were amazing (including a powerhouse performance from Chadwick Boseman) and Delroy Lindo is a leading Oscar candidate. The storytelling of the film is remarkable and Spike Lee deserves a lot of credit.
The second of the films I saw today at Cinemark is the new Western starring Tom Hanks. This film is called News of the World and it places Tom Hanks in a story that we have never seen him in before, unless you count Woody from Toy Story!
Hanks played Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a Civil War veteran who travels around the West reading people the news for money. He would emphasize the stories, providing the crowds an entertaining presentation. However, on his way, Captain Kidd came across an overturned wagon and a lynched black man in the tree. He found that the man had been taking a young girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel), who had been kidnapped and raised by the Kiowa people. Johanna did not speak English and seemed like a wild child.
Captain Kidd committed to take Johanna back to her remaining family, an aunt and uncle in Texas. Along the way, the two unlikely compatriots bond over the dangers of the world.
Honestly, the first part of News of the World I found slow and a bit dull. I was starting to worry about the film, but then the story picked up energy and the last hour and twenty minutes or so were extremely compelling and thrilling.
Tom Hanks is always great, but there has to be a big shout out to Helena Zengel, who had a lot of challenges to her performance, in particular the language issues. She was excellent and held her own with her famous co-star. She provided as much emotions with her face and her eyes as she did with her words. It was a seasoned performance from the young lady.
The cinematography of the film is gorgeous, as the land of the west is as much of a character as our two main characters. Director Paul Greengrass gave us amazing visuals to watch as the story progressed.
I did like how straight forward Captain Kidd was with everyone he came in contact with. His honor shined through his actions. This made him an uncommon character in Western movies.
After a slow start, News of the World really picked up and is carried by the performances of Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel. It was one of the best Westerns of the year (I only saw one other… )
With 2020 coming down to a close (thankfully) there are just a few remaining films I will be able to see. So I went out to Cinemark today to see a couple of them. The first film I saw was a film that I have seen on a lot of lists of possible Oscar nominees, Promising Young Woman.
Promising Young Woman starred Carey Mulligan and was directed by Emerald Fennell.
Something happened to Cassie (Carey Mulligan) during her college years that led her to drop out of her collegiate medical program. It had something to do with her friend Nina. From this event, Cassie had struggled to get past her memories. On the weekends, she goes to bars and pretends to be drunk. She waited to be picked up by men trying to have sex with her and she lured them into a trap, confronted them and kept a record of it.
Working at a coffee shop, Cassie was approached by a former classmate of hers, Ryan (Bo Burnham) who wanted to ask her out on a date, but Cassie was to distrustful of men to accept.
Carey Mulligan is exceptional in this role. I love the way the film hints at what happened without coming right out and explaining it to us. We can figure out what happened without it being laid out before us. With the pain in her face, Mulligan brings us along on her way through her life. The film hints at Cassie doing worse things to her victims, though it seemed as if she did not.
You understand the anger and pain that Cassie is facing, but you want her to overcome the anguish. Then, she does something that makes you shocked at her behavior.
Then the third act becomes one of the craziest third acts you are ever going to see. It is surprising and it is uncomfortable. I never saw it coming and I really loved that.
Thrilling. Heart-breaking. Uncomfortable. Promising Young Woman is one of the greta films of the year and certainly may deserve that Oscar nomination it hopes for.
Was flipping through Roku TV last night and I came across Sam Raimi’s classic Spider-Man. This was my favorite super hero movie for quite awhile (until the recent expansion of the MCU). I love Spider-Man and this felt like the most iconic version of the Web-Head.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is struggling through his life, trying to make way with his lack of money, classwork and relationships, all the while hoping to continue his alternate life as the Web-Swinger. However, when a lab accident turned mild manners scientist Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) into the psychotic, metallic armed Doctor Octopus, Peter has to battle him to save the city.
Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock is nearly perfect. The film took the character and gave a bit of a twist to him with the arms being somewhat sentient and mentally suggesting, if not controlling Octavius. It allows Doc Ock to have a moment of clarity at the end of the film which helped the story and resolution (making if different than Raimi’s previous Spider-Man movie).
I don’t know if it is because of how much I like Tom Holland, but Tobey Maguire felt more miscast in the role of Peter Parker than I had ever felt before. Maybe it was the age thing, with Maguire being older than he was playing. He was fine as Peter, but there was just something about him that bugged me with this viewing.
Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson also did not feel as perfect as it did back when I first saw this movie. I mean, she does not ruin anything for me, but she would not be my prime choice for MJ despite her undeniable beauty.
Spider-Man 2 has what is arguably one of the greatest sequences in comic book movie history. The Spidey-Doc Ock train fight is as good as it gets. It perfectly encapsulated everything good about the character of Spider-Man and how he relates to the people of New York. His never say die attitude and his determination to save the people on the train under any circumstances is astounding. Then, the reaction of the people on the train to their savior was iconic. Tears were in my eyes when that kid said, “We won’t tell nobody” about Spidey’s mask being off. So much emotion being shown by the people involved… it is truly one of the best scenes in any super hero movie.
The film is based on the iconic comic book run of “Spider-Man No More” starting in Amazing Spider-Man #50.
We see more of Peter Parker and what makes him tick in this movie. We see the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane, between Peter and his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Peter and Harry (James Franco). Putting Octavius as a scientific inspiration to Peter was smart as well, because it gives them a deeper connection than just hero-villain.
There are all kinds of Sam Raimi flares scattered about the the movie. His flavor is unmistakable and tehre are scenes that are pulled directly out of previous Raimi work. The scene in the operating room where Doc Ock’s tentacles first come to life is a perfect example of Sam Raimi’s style. I am anxious to see how Sam Raimi’s style translates into the MCU with Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
Of course there is also perhaps the greatest bit of casting in comic book movie history is here as well as J.K. Simmons reprised his role as J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle. Simmons steals every scene he is in and is completely tremendous as JJJ. You can’t talk about the original Spider-Man trilogy without mentioning J.K. Simmons.
Spider-Man 2 has the feel of a comic book come to life. The fantasy of the hero swinging through the city, sacrificing for the unknown is powerful. I have heard some criticism that this film does not hold up, but I would disagree whole-heartedly. This is still one of the best Spider-Man movies of all time and it laid the groundwork for what the character could possibly be on the big screen.
I was on Netflix last night and suddenly, there was a new super hero movie with Pedro Pascal. It was called We Can Be Heroes and I had no idea it was coming out and it was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the mind behind Spy Kids and Sin City. It also appeared to be a sequel to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D. That should give you a good idea of the tone of this filn.
I have never seen The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D, but I have heard about it, and, maybe it should go on the list.
This focused on the children of the group of heroes known as The Heroics, which included the aforementioned Lavagirl (Taylor Dooley) and Sharkboy (Jeffrey Dashnaw). It also included the retired leader of the Heroics, Marcus Moreno (Pedro Pascal).
The film starts off with Miracle Guy (Boyd Holbrook) and Tech-No (Christian Slater) half-heartedly trying to deal with an unidentified object in space, only to discover that there was an entire armada on its way to earth. The aliens made short work of the Heroics, capturing them all and imprisoning them on their ship.
Missy Moreno (YaYa Gosselin), daughter of Marcus, was taken by the government agency to a location to protect her from the aliens. They take Missy to the rest of the children of the Heroics. However, the other children all have super powers, but Missy does not.
When one of the children, Ojo (Hala Finley) turned out to be prophetic with her drawings, the kids discover that the aliens are preparing to attack the agency. Together, the group escape the facility and try to come up with an idea to rescue their parents.
Teen/child super heroes are always fun. There was a definitely fun tone going on here. It reminded one of Spy Kids because there were some stakes, but the kids were not in any real jeopardy. It had the feel of a Disney Channel show where the kids are generalized characters without a ton of depth to them. The children are charismatic enough and have enough fun powers that you do not need deeply developed characters. They all have their one or so obstacle that they have to overcome to become the best they could be.
Some of the other neat ideas are Noodle (Lyon Daniels) who can stretch, providing some cool visuals, Wild Card (Nathan Blair) who has all the powers but cannot control them, Guppy (Vivien Blair), daughter of Lavagirl and Sharkboy, who can control water and had super shark strength, Wheels (Andy Walken) who is in a wheelchair because his strength in his legs were too strong, Slo-Mo (Dylan Henry Lau) who moved in super slow motion despite being the son of the speedster, A Capella (Lotus Blossom) who can move thigns with her singing voice, Fast-Forward (Akira Akbar) and Rewind (Isaiah Russell-Bailey) who were twin brother and sister who were not fond of each other, and Facemaker (Andrew Diaz) who has a malleable face.
The film is light, funny, breezy. It is not something to dive into deeply. It is a kids movie that you can use to introduce children to the world of superheroes. I had fun watching it. It is like eating cotton candy. Sweet at first, but not much remaining after.
I can’t say that I am sad to see it end. There were so many stories coming out of the year that I have to adjust my usual Top Geek Stories entry in the Year in Review. In the past, I have listed a top (usually) 15 stories in order for the year. This year, I am not going to pretend to list them. I considered going by month, but that felt like it was too much of an undertaking. So… we will see how this works itself out.
Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in Presidential Election. This year’s most important election of our lives might have actually reached that level. Joe Biden received over 81 million votes and 306 electoral votes to win the contest, although as of this writing, President Trump has not conceded. I will admit to being nervous to see what the lame duck president may do between now and Jan. 20th when Biden is sworn in.
Coronavirus aka COVID-19. The biggest story of all areas this year is the arrival of the coronavirus in late January. It arrived, was ignored, spread like crazy and spread again. We are still dealing with the virus by social distancing and wearing masks, though there are plenty of people who believe that infringes on their rights. There was a vaccine developed (couple actually) near the end of the year so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, over 330,000+ Americans have died from Covid-19 so far.
Movies pushed. Because of the pandemic, theaters wound up closing down for a chunk of time in 2020 (some which are still closed). This has led to a bunch of movies being delayed, some originally to the end of the year like Wonder Woman 1984, but most into 2021 like Black Widow, Fate 9, the new James Bond: No Time to Die, The Eternals, Godzilla vs. Kong, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Halloween Kills, Jungle Cruise, A Quiet Place Part II, Top Gun: Maverick etc. Several movies, such as Trolls 2 and Artemis Fowl, skipped their theatrical release and released on streaming services instead.
Tenet saves theaters. Not. However, Christopher Nolan’s new movie Tenet ended up opening in 2020 because of pressure placed on the studio from Nolan. Nolan wanted his film released on the big screen and there was discussions about whether Tenet would save the box office. The answer to that was no as Tenet had fair to middling results.
Warner Brothers/HBO Max had an idea. WB announced that they would be releasing all of their large tentpole releases for 2021 on their streaming service, HBO Max. Max, which rolled out this year with a mixed review (difficult to work, not on Roku etc), would be getting the releases of major films, starting with Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas. The films would also be released in the theaters, where available. The creative folks were not pleased with this news. Dune (and Lionsgate) fought the release and it may have worked. Other creative people such as Christopher Nolan and James Gunn (among others) spoke about their disappointment with the company.
Disney drops their load. As if it wasn’t tough enough on WB, about a week later, Disney had their investor call and proceeded to drop information on dozens and dozens of projects… everywhere from new Star Wars shows such as Ahsoka and Andor to Marvel and their new shows such as Armor Wars, Secret Invasion as well as trailers for Loki, WandaVision and Falcon & the Winter Soldier. But it was not just Star Wars and Marvel either. We got Pixar, Hulu, Disney proper, National Geographic news too.
Who’s got the Toilet Paper? At the beginning of the pandemic, with people restricted to work from home, toilet paper supplies from the stores nationwide started disappearing. People went nuts over the TP, deciding that this would be the stuff worth hording.
Release the Snyder Cut! The cry of fanboys everywhere since the release of a less-than-expected quality Justice League movie was for WB to release the Snyder cut. It was an online thing for years. Finally, WB announced in 2020 that they would release the Snyder cut of Justice League in 2021. However, it does appear that they have give Zach Snyder $80 million to finish the film (which will be 4 hours long and released on HBO Max) so there must not have been a finished cut of the movie prior.
Black Lives Matter: As if the pandemic wasn’t enough of a problem, African American man George Floyd was, in the process of being arrested, killed by the police. It all happened on camera for the world to see as the police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for over 8 minutes. This led to Floyd suffocating and kicked off a series of protests and riots across the country. Though most of the protests were non-violent, those that did end up in violence were what were focused on and led to further racial strife in the country. It became political theater for many (on both sides to be fair) and the message got lost.
Imagine. Gal Gadot and many of her celebrity friends recorded a version of John Lennon’s Imagine that was both figuratively and literally tone deaf. Though they may have had good intentions, I have heard that the road to hell is paved with those.
Tiger King. In March, Netflix released a true crime type show called Tiger King which focused on zoo owner Joe Exotic and his rivalry with big-cat activist Carol Baskin. Tiger King was shock TV at its finest as people everywhere could not believe what they were seeing each episode. From the revelation that Carol Baskin may have fed her previous husband to a tiger to Joe Exotic’s bizarre campaign for governor, Tiger King was what everyone wanted to talk about.
Zoom. This company went from nothing to everything. The world knows now about Zoom and many have had Zoom meetings. Schools held classes virtually over Zoom, TV programs broadcast their shows with the web site, businesses used it as for a meeting. We all now know that we have to “unmute” ourselves and that you only need to dress from the waste up. Just be sure that your computer is facing a wall where no one can walk behind you (I know a friend who had a parent walk behind a student and the parent was naked).
Don’t call him Baby Yoda. Season two of the Mandalorian came to Disney + and it was joyous. One of the biggest reveals of the season was when Ahsoka Tano (yup, played in live action by Rosario Dawson) told us the real name of Baby Yoda. It was Grogu… and the internet whined. It was a weird name, and people seem to be getting used to it. At least it did not create the same stir as when Grogu ate those frog eggs.
Dodgers win! Yeah, this one is in for me. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4 game to 2 to win the 2020 World Series after a shortened regular season. The Dodgers had not won the World Series since the year when Kirk Gibson hit the game one walk-off home run (1988) so it was a long time coming.
Rest In Peace. 2020 had a terrible number of people die, but there were at least two celebrities who died unexpectedly that crushed countless people. NBA legend Kobie Bryant died in January after his helicopter crashed. His daughter was on the helicopter as well. Actor Chadwick Boseman died after a years-long battle with cancer that he had kept secret from most of the world. These two men in the prime of their lives passed on leaving a massive hole in the hearts of their families, friends and fans. There was too much loss in 2020 as a whole.
Impeached for life. Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives and had his trial in the Senate in January. Trump was not convicted by the Senate, with it being a nearly partisan vote. Only Utah Republican Mitt Romney voted to remove Trump. I can’t imagine how the year might have been different if the Senate would have removed Trump from office when the legitimate chance presented itself. Trump’s failure with the Covid-19 virus might have been different and the entire year might have been changed.
Oh no….oh no… oh no no no no no. With the pandemic forcing everyone home, another app that benefitted hugely was TikTok. The short-video sharing platform exploded into a nationwide sensation with Americans everywhere dancing, posting videos of “Karen” and lip synching. TikTok even affected the national political events when the TikTok kids requested thousands of tickets for the first Trump rally in Oklahoma (during the pandemic) and did not show up. They drew the ire of Trump from this but they seem to be as strong as ever.
Live from my living room…. TV show, in particular talk shows such as the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Daily Show, The View, and news network programming set up Zooms and Streamlabs and continued to provide interview segments and entertainment for the isolated public at large. YouTube was deep into the broadcasts as well as podcasters everywhere learned how to ask for money via Super Chat.
Murder Hornets. There was so much news happening in 2020, that it seemed like every month there was something new and tremendously horrible was going on. When news of murder hornets, large insects that were coming from South America and would murder bumblebees, the nation could only wonder what wa next. Fortunately, murder hornets have not led to the insect apocalypse… at least not yet.
Fire! Fire! Fire! Things have burned all over the place this year. Starting in Australia, the bush fires set that continent ablaze for nearly three months. The event was horrendously tragic for the people and wildlife of Australia. Not to be out done, California was once again on fire with wildfires all across the state. Smoke came from the fires and was seen across the country. Skies in California turned a shockingly red even without a fire in sight.
Have you ever seen 2001: A Space Odyssey? At the end of November, a mysterious monolith, reminiscent of Kubrick’s classic film, appeared in the desert of Lockhart Basin, Utah. Then, after several days of intensive scrutiny by the world at large, the monolith disappeared. Copycat monoliths appeared in Romania, California and New Zealand. A group on TikTok claimed responsibility for removal (and showed videos of the monolith in a backyard) but the monolith’s original appearance and origin is still a mystery.
Unidentified, you say? Oh yeah… and the US Military confirmed that there were UFOs. In any other year, this would be the biggest story around and this year it is way down my list. The US Military released three videos that the Pentagon said were “unidentified aerial phenomena.” The three Navy videos were said to be “real” by the Pentagon, meaning that they did not know what they were but they were not behind it. UFO enthusiasts were excited, but it is not like the Military walked us through Area 51.
More:
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit the royal family
Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars becoming first foreign language film to win main award
Harvey Weinstein convicted of sex crimes
Stock Market crashed
Kim Jong Un was believed to be dead. Reports of his death were apparently greatly exaggerated
Twitter was hacked in a bitcoin scam
Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested; President trump wishes her well
Trump spend first debate with Biden talking over him and interrupting the entire event.
Massive explosion rocked the city of Beirut.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg died. Trump and Republicans hypocritically push through her replacement
Trump tested positive for Covid-19. Gets best treatment in world.
Eddie Van Halen died
Alex Trebek died
Locusts swarmed in Africa
Avoided World War III after Trump launched drone strikes against Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in January
Trump suggested that bleach could kill the virus and wanted doctors to look into ways to inject it into people.
Kanye West ran for president of the United States. Really.
Live action Mulan premiered on Disney + and Disney charged everyone an extra $30.
Carole Baskin was on Dancing with the Stars
Tom Hanks got Covid. So did the Rock.
Person Woman Man Camera TV
The nation got its Space Force (and they called them Guardians)
Quibi launched and shut down in six months (after losing 1.75 billion dollars)
There was a plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan.
Speaking of Michigan, a group of armed people stormed the state capitol because of the shutdown.
Trump teargassed protestors so he could pose with a Bible outside of St. John’s Church across the street from the White House.
Steve Bannon was arrested for stealing Build a Wall donations. Trump has not yet pardoned him.
Trump pardoned everyone else in his orbit.
Rudy Giuliani …well what else needs to be said about “America’s Mayor”?
All kinds of sporting events were cancelled.
Sarah Palin appeared on the Masked Singer
The Undertaker officially retired from WWE in ring action (for now)
Randy Orton set The fiend on fire in WWE
DC Comics fires a ton of staff members.
Luke Skywalker appeared as The Jedi on the Mandalorian season finale
Trump tries to bring down the post office to slow mail in voting.
Jim Carrey played Joe Biden on SNL for a few months
Oscars postpone ceremony until April- extend eligibility requirements.
Collider fire a bunch of on air and behind the scenes talents in January; plan on changing directions
Za Flertinflaus arrives on SEN Live!
John Lewis died.
Adam Collins defeats Dan Murrell for Movie Trivia Schmoedown Championship
Odd Couple defeats Shazam for Movie Trivia Schmoedown Team Championship
MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki spends weeks at the “Big Board” during election season. Clear MVP on network
I was not sure what t expect from Hunter Hunter, but I had heard some positive word of mouth about it online, so I figured it would be a good film to give a chance.
Whoa.
Joseph (Devon Sawa), his wife Anne (Camille Sullivan) and daughter Renee (Summer H. Howell) lived as a family in the wilderness, surviving off the land as trappers. The family was afraid that they were being stalked by a rogue wolf. The desperation of Joseph to capture the canine sent him out to track the predator, leaving his wife and daughter alone in their cabin.
As Joseph continued to be out of communication range, Anne and Renee were becoming more anxious and frightened of the wolf. However, a noise outside the cabin led to Anne discovering an injured man Leo (Nick Stahl) who she nursed back to health.
The film had a slow build as it patiently revealed its surprises and its frightening scenes. You are never quite sure what is going on and a few of the things we discover along the way make you uncertain about what is happening and uneasy about what might happen. The film does an amazing job of creating a mood of anxiety among the audience.
Personally, my favorite character and performance came from Gabriel Daniels, who was the local forestry agent. He was making his way around to the different locales in the film, picking up roadkill such as dead skunks or responding to bear sightings by the yuppie locals. Daniels does not get a ton of screen time, but I enjoyed his performance while there.
When the film kicks it into high gear, it really goes all in. The final scene of this film is as grizzly of a scene as I have seen in any movie this year.
I came into Hunter Hunter with almost no idea of what the film was, outside the fact that I had heard it positively referred to as a horror movie. I was not ready for the film to be as compelling as it was and for it to switch gears as quickly as it did. It was a brutal development and an unexpected journey.
Here are the worst of the worst for 2020: the Batman & Robins!
The F-You Award: COVID-19. This goes without saying.
Worst Movie of the Year: You have to wait and see on the Year End List. However, a hint, it is one of the worst of all-time.
Worst Actor: Nick Stahl (The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson). He may have been the standout in this movie. That is not saying much.
Worst Actress: Mena Suvari (The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson). Her performance was not quite as obscene as the film.
Worst CGI: Roald Dahl’s The Witches. The CGI here was disappointing and it surpassed the badness of the dog from Call of the Wild, which was a runner-up.
Worst Sequel: Brahms: The Boy II. A sequel that was terrible and had zero reason to have been made. The first Boy move was okay, but this one took the good parts of that one and tossed it out the window.
Worst Superhero Movie: Project Power. This was not terrible, but there were limited number of superhero movies this year and I did not want to give this to Wonder Woman 1984.
Worst Director: Daniel Farrands (The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson). Amateurish.
My Favorite Rotten Movie (Low Score on Rotten Tomatoes): The New Mutants. Lots of people disliked this long-delayed movie, but I found it decent. Perhaps I am more willing to give this a break because of my background.
Worst Movie I did not see: Songbird. At 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is low. As the first major film involving COVID, it most likely is a little too tone deaf.
Cashing a Paycheck: Harrison Ford (Call of the Wild). Harrison was good in the movie. The CGI dog was a horrid distraction.
Book was Better: Artemis Fowl. Although I have never read the book, it would have to be better than this Disney + flopper.
Worst Reboot/Remake: Dolittle. The sad “adventure” starring Robert Downey Jr and his weird accent. He was Tony Stark once. Now he is pulling items out of a dragon’s anus.
Most Successful Bad Movie: Spencer Confidential. This Netflix series was successful for the streamer, but it was just God awful.
Worst Movie Based on TV Show: Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island. Michael Pena as Mr. Rourke was the fisr mistake, but far from the only ones in this terrible re-imagining of the class TV show.
Worst Performance from an Oscar winner: Judi Dench (Artemis Fowl). She was Commander Root, head of the fairies. Coming on the heels of Old Deuteronomy in Cats, this was maybe another step down.
Worst Wig of the Year: Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy). It was a horrible distraction the entire time.
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EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 